This report describes the problem of the lack of information on chemicals in articles. It illustrates specific cases where problems caused by chemicals in articles occur in all life cycle stages: manufacturing, use, recycling and disposal. The report explores the benefits that could result from the development of an internationally standardized information system for the chemical contents of articles; the challenges of disseminating such information; and existing models that could inform such a system. While an information system is not a substitute for other policy mechanisms to mitigate the harms from toxic substances in articles, it can be a powerful compliment [sic].

Note: This report was an input to the further development of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), adopted in February 2006, in particular to the objectives on knowledge and information (Objective 15) of its Overarching Policy Strategy and to some of the activities in the Global Plan of Action. The report was presented at an informal international workshop on stakeholders’ information needs on chemicals in articles in Geneva in February 2009.

The report was commissioned by the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI), with funding from the Nordic Chemicals Group under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Responsibility for its contents rests with the authors. The authors are Rachel I. Massey and Janet G. Hutchins at the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute, Joel Tickner at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and Monica Becker, Monica Becker & Associates.

Contents

Understanding the Problem: Case Studies of Toxic Substances in Articles

Case Study 1: Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in waterproof textiles

Case study 2: Lead in children’s toys and jewelry

Case study 3: Nonylphenol ethoxylates: Water contaminants from textile manufacturing and use

CDC has measured 212 chemicals in people’s blood or urine—75 of which have never before been measured in the U.S. population. The new chemicals include acrylamide, arsenic, environmental phenols, including bisphenol A (BPA) and triclosan, and perchlorate. BPA was found in the urine of nearly all the people tested, a finding that indicates widespread exposure in the U.S. population. Mercury, a known neurotoxin, was found in most of the study participants.

Biomonitoring measurements are the most health-relevant assessments of exposure because they measure the amount of the chemical that actually gets into people from all environmental sources (e.g., air, soil, water, dust, or food) combined. With a few exceptions, it is the concentration of the chemical in people that provides the best exposure information to evaluate the potential for adverse health effects.

287 chemicals were detected in umbilical cord blood, of which 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. The report notes that a number of human health problems are on the rise. Fetal and childhood exposure can lead to childhood diseases or to diseases which don’t fully appear until adulthood.